4am Ski Trip

It was a hard day to do something new, as I worked, had a meeting, packed for the trip, went to school directly after work, and then was picked up to go on our snowboarding trip!  I'm not gonna lie, today's blog is not the most original idea.

Today was the first time I travelled to a snowy mountain for snowboarding at 4 in the AM. We arrived at about 4:15am. Kyle was a TROOPER for driving the whole way, and he managed to stay awake, thank goodness.

We left Vancouver at 9:30pm, so I'm thinking he was taking it nice and slow and relaxed in order for us to be safe. . Thanks so much Kyle for driving us to the mountain and staying awake at the wheel . I definitely could not have done it.




YOU ROCK!

Kyle is so awesome, he has his own ski RUN named after him. Yes, named after him.

Coconut Mail

I mailed three whole coconuts today for the first time. Yes, slapped a postage stamp on them and threw them in the mail box. They made quite a loud *THUMP* as they hit the bottom of the mailbox. I saw it done on Myth Busters yesterday, and thought it would be hilarious to try! Adam and Jamie, two of the co-stars on the reality tv series addressed a coconut to themselves, stamped it, and put it in the mail. It later came back to their workshop with no visible damage.....Interesting!


Here's the address, if you do feel the urge to send them a coconut!!  (teehee)

The Mythbusters
Beyond Productions
1268 Missouri Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Why you ask? Because it's funny, and I can't wait for the people to get it in the mail. At least, I hope they do. Laws in Canada may be different; I guess we'll find out. I am not going to tell you who I mailed it to. It might be you! I bought three of them, because I didn't want to just do one! I sent one to a stranger, (in the hopes they will read my blog and make a comment) and the other two to people I know. :)  *evil laugh* I am not going to post photos of them on here, because you can see the address, so just use your imagination!

Now I'm wondering what else can you mail? A rock perhaps? Maybe a piece of wood? I might try this some day as well. What funny things can you think of that might be sent through the mail? Mail something strange today to a friend and make them laugh!

Good times...

Ark - Join the Movement!

Ark stands for Acts of Random Kindness: A non for profit movement encouraging Acts of Random Kindness through their tasty ethical Clothing line. Their idea is that you preform one ARK everytime the brand is worm. The clothing acts as a reminder to be kind, allowing you to look good while doing good (hurrah!)  The clothing is also designed so that you are carrying a message, inspiring others to be kindand getting them to think differently aboutthe way life should be lived. It's a symbol for a new way of life through a new kind of clothing :)  Isn't this awesome? I rarely buy clothing for brand names or the message they are trying to convey with the brand; this brand is none like I've ever seen and I will absolutely be buying a tshirt to show my support in this movement.

Go HERE to check out the website, and learn more. They have a pretty small selection of t-shirts, but I imagine as they get bigger they'll have more. I just love the idea of wearing clothing that reminds you to do a random act of kindness when you wear it! It's perfect and exactly something that I would do, especially since this blog has been full of random acts of kindness! :)

I am going to purchase a t-shirt for the first time for reasons other than just buying a tshirt. It has tons of hidden meaning, and will definitely create conversations with people. I can't wait to wear it! This company is based in the UK , so it could take awhile for it to come in the mail, but I am super excited for it.

The t-shirt cost 24Euros, but worth every penny in my eyes. It looks like they are coming out with more products in the near future, so I look forward to checking it out.

Start ARKING now!  Check out the video below for an idea of how to start...

If this video doesn't move you, I don't know what will!

Soy Yoghurt

I've had soy cheese, soy milk, soy icecream, but I haven't ever tried soy yoghurt. Ok, is it just me or is the word "soy" kind of strange. Maybe just writing it 5 times in a row makes you think that. Does this ever happen you to? SOY SOY SOY SOY SOY SOY SOY SOY. heheheh... Maybe I'm going crazy, but it doesn't look like the word anymore.

So, I didn't really like soy cheese but I did like the ice cream and flavoured tofu so I thought there was a chance I'd like soy yoghurt. I was VERY wrong. Oh dear god was I wrong. I'm a HUGE dairy yoghurt fan. I love cherry or peach.  My first thought was "ohh, it's very..grainy.." In the photo, can you see the little chunky bits?  Mmm, so appetizing.

I made quite a fuss over it, and said to Matt, "do you want to try it? " hahah. I do this a lot. I say " oh this is soooo gross, " and then ask someone if they want to try it. I don't blame them for not wanting to try it after my reaction. But, I want them to experience what I've just experienced, even though it's not a good experience. It doesn't make sense but I like to share moments with people, good or bad!

Here's an interesting fact about soy yoghurt you might not have known:

Soy yogurt, especially when it has fruit in it, may help control both type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, US researchers have reported. Although people with diabetes are usually discouraged from eating sweet snacks, soy yogurt and some dairy yogurts rich in fruit appear to help regulate enzymes that affect blood sugar levels, the researchers have reported.

 

So, if I were diabetic, I might plug my nose and eat it really quickly just for the health benefits. I'd personally go for the dairy yoghurt though. My friend Marissa is allergic to dairy, so perhaps she can recommend a better tasting soy yoghurt brand? I tried this one. 

I'm really craving some dairy cherry yoghurt right now. ..... Off to the store I go :)

Green Mustard

I love mustard. I could eat it right out of the jar; just give me a spoon! Not just yellow mustard, but all the fancy ones; Dijon and Horseradish are my favs. Even more fancy than this was my invention many years ago.  I used to mix yellow mustard and ketchup together, to form something I liked to call "mustup" I should really develop that and sell it in stores! It is brilliant with french fries. Try it sometime, I highly recommend it. Just don't steal my idea or I will hunt you down.

I've never even heard of Green Mustard before. Have you? This is my first today.  Very exciting, I know! When I saw it at the store today, I immediately put it in my basket without even thinking. It looked and sounded amazing! Unless you are a weirdo and don't appreciate mustard, you would agree that the idea is amazing!




Doesn't it look good enough to pull out a spoon and take a bite? I skipped the spoon and dove right in with my finger..
It had an interesting vinegar taste to it, but, extremely good; an incredibly smooth and deceivingly creamy twist on a condiment staple. It has a blend of Dijon Mustard with chive, parsley & basil. I recommend you give it a try. I found it at IGA. Go here to check out recipes for using the green mustard! I was happy just eating it all by itself, but I can imagine using it in a recipe would be amazing. Give it a try!

Other uses of the word Mustard: (wiki)

-Mustard (album) by Roy Wood
-MUSTARD, an acronym for an experimental British spacecraft design
-Mustard (color), a shade of yellow, similar to the color of the condiment
-Sulfur mustard (mustard gas), a chemical weapon
-Mustards, a class of chemicals most associated with chemical weapons, including nitrogen mustard

Roasted Edamame

To be honest, I love edamame. You know the fuzzy green pods that they serve in Japanese Restaurants? I've only ever had it in the pod version cooked with sea salt and right out of the shell. One of my must-have things I order at a Japanese place. Today , I tried the dried roasted kind for the first time and was surprised at how yummy they were!

Well apparently, edamam has the good fats found in nuts, a lot of protein, and is a little less caloric then your standard nut serving. Sweeeet. I am sold. Especially since I can't eat peanuts, hazelnuts or cashews because of allergies.

Apparently you can also made chick pea version to this! Just take a can of chickpeas, drain the liquid and rinse them. Pat them dry with a paper towel and spread them on a cookie sheet. Spray on a little bit of cooking spray and sprinkle with a bit of salt and garlic powder. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes to 1hr or until they are dried out and starting to crack. I will try this in the near future and let you know how they turn out.

There is also a difference between these and soy nuts, incase you were wondering! At www.wiki.answers.com someone asked " What is the Difference between dry roasted edamame and dry roasted soy nuts?" and the answer was " Dried edamame are made from younger green soybeans, and soy nuts are made from older beige soybeans." 

There ya have it folks! I really liked these dry roasted snacks and I recommend you give them a try for a lower caloric snack than nuts. I have to be careful not to eat the whole bag, because then the lower calories won't matter! Yummmm...

Perhaps next time I will try and roast them on my own from actual pods in the oven. Oohhhhhh! 

Imitation

Today, for the first time I enjoyed a Photo Shoot assignment and did it with confidence! I actually knew what I was doing and felt good about it! Wow, I must be learning something in these classes after all.  Who knew? Not me. We were given famous photos of actresses, and had to mimic the lighting situations- never done this before, so its a great first for the day! This was challenging because you had to determine how the shadows/highlights were created by which kind of lights and how many lights. You can have a simple setup with one light, or a difficult set-up with three lights!  Surprisingly, there are tons of different ways to manipulate the light as well; it's not just putting a light by the model and taking a photo. You can add scrims, grids or beauty dishes, or umbrellas or soft boxes to make the light harder or softer, bigger or smaller. There are many combinations of all of this, so to figure out how a Photographer did a particular kind of Photo is actually pretty hard. You have to examine how the light falls on the subject and the direction of the light. I've never examined shadows under someone's nose in such depth before. It was interesting!!

The first shot we did, was Gwen Stefani's photo on the cover of Rolling Stone. We believe she had one large "beauty dish" right above her, to create the small shadow below her nose, and very little shadows elsewhere. We put a soft box slightly to the right of her, to create a slight shadow on her upper abs and side of face. We also placed a small floor light behind her to light up the background with a grid on it to create a bit of a gradient. The background was impossible to do, and took at least an hour to figure out! A lot of work goes in to one single photo- it's quite incredible! I've never had appreciation for this kind of Photography until now.

This photo is a photo of a photo of a photo, so it's terrible quality but you can kind of see the shadows and light we were trying to imitate!  We used an obvious background light to create the halo; the light had a grid on it for the gradient. We also had a small beauty light very high above her to create the very significant shadow under her right nostril and right neck.  We then placed a "hair light" directly behind her shining down to light up the hair. The model we had, did not have the same hair, so we worked with what we had. She also doesn't have that "model" quality and I was surprised she was hired to model for us! Anyone would look terrible compared to Natalie Portman, but she doesn't strike me as someone photogenic. She did have the flu, so I'll give her that. 

Here's my versions of the shots! Based purely on the light, I think we did a pretty good job. We'll find out next class what the Professor thinks: he usually critiques pretty hard, but I always learn something! :) 

World Meteorological Day

Today is the first time I realized that there was a day called "World Meteorological Day". Each year, on 23 March, the World Meteorological Organization, its 189 Members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day around a chosen theme. This year, the theme is “60 years of service for your safety and well-being”. This day commemorates the entry into force, on that date in 1950, of the WMO Convention creating the Organization. Subsequently, in 1951, WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations System.

Here's an interesting article about how WMO improves weather forecasts: http://www.ghananewsagency.org/s_science/r_13793/?ref=twitter

Incase you didn't know, (because I will admit, I don't know much about this kind of thing) the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the UN's voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources.

.....Go here to read the full article...--->

Since its establishment, WMO has played a unique and powerful role in contributing to the safety and welfare of humanity. They contribute substantially to the protection of life and property against natural disasters, to safeguarding the environment and to enhancing the economic and social well-being of all sectors of society in areas such as food security, water resources and transport. Here is the official website to learn more: http://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html

If it weren't for this blog, I never would've learned about the World Meteorological Day. Without this blog, I would've went about my day, doing the usual things that I do. I think its important to learn new things every day, not just try new things every day. So, today my first was learning something new!  Go out, do some research about a topic you wouldn't normally care about. It's fun and you might just find something you want to learn/research more about!! 

(all info in the blog, was taken from wikipedia.org and wmo.int)

Tax Time: joint vs single

Today, is the first time Matt and I tried to do our taxes together, since we're engaged now. We've always just done it separately even though "technically" we are common-law. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

I always thought that once you file things together, it would be to your advantage? We did the whole thing, as a couple and all was fine, but when we started adding in my info, the dollar amount starting going down and down and down.  We were royally confused. These stupid tax programs make some kind of random calculation and suddenly you go from 1400$ return, to 0$ return. It doesn't tell you why, it just steals from you and you have no idea why. WHY?

I feel the urge to go to an Accountant and get someone to help us, who knows what they are doing! But, Matt (being a man- no offense to you or any other men out there) thinks that he is perfectly capable of doing it, and doesn't want to pay someone money to do it. But, if it means we will get more back, than wouldn't it be worth it?  Do you have any experience working with an Accountant? when is it worth it, and when isn't it?

This is the tax program we've used for the last 3 years. Are some programs better than others? ..........................

So, the final result after doing a joined tax form, and a seperate one, was that it we got more money back by actually filing separately. Since I make so little, and Matt's makes almost 3 times as much as me, (damn!) we thought it would benefit us. It didn't benefit us at all. I was not able to find any good articles, or find any information about taxes and what to do in our situation..... any suggestions? anyone have experience with this?

We decided we will file separately for now, but what happens when we get married? Can we continue to file separately? I'm confused about the whole thing. Accountant-- here I come!!

Supper Club

I had this brilliant idea (well I thought it was brilliant) to start up a 'Supper Club' with friends. The word 'Supper Club' actually comes from when I was little, and my parents used to have people over, or they'd go to over to other people's houses, and they'd call it 'Supper Club' ; not dinner, or lunch, or breakfast, but supper. It looked fun, and I remember watching my parents laughing, and socializing. Even though it looked completely boring (as a childs perspective) I thought it was kind of cool. I remember Tara and I would help set the table, and make it look pretty for the guests!

So, it must be a SIGN------->
that I'm getting older, but I'm super excited about my plans to form a 'Supper Club'.

Each time we have a 'Supper Club' night, we have a "theme" of some kind. By this, I mean that everyone has to bring a dish that has the same color, or ingredient or favourite chef, or specific country, or spice, etc. For example, the theme might be "tomatoes" and everyone attending has to bring a dish with tomatoes in it! You can be as creative or not as you want, as fancy or not as you want, as long as you bring tomatoes of some kind :)

 You can make as many dishes as your budget allows or your arms can carry. The host/hostess of the evening gets to decide on the theme and communicate it with all the people in the 'Supper Club' at least the day before.

Tonight, our theme was "the color yellow" so we had yellow curry and rice, Corn with bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with bananas, white wine, Indian rice curry seafood soup, and great company to share it with! Thanks to Tara, and Kyle who attending the FIRST official 'Supper Club' and cheers to many more to come!

The great thing is, there are no rules about someone bringing salad, or veggies, or meat, etc. The fun part is the unknown, and combining everyone's creation into one sit-down TAPA style meal! It may not be a fully nutritionally balanced meal, but who cares!

I guarantee the themes will become more creative as we go along, and the only rule is that we don't ever repeat a theme. I also thought it would be fun to cover your dish with tinfoil, so that when you come to the person's apt/house you place your 'dish' on the table or oven if need be, with all the other tinfoil dishes so there is a secret buffet of food ready to be uncovered all at once. Then, we dig in!  Can't wait for the next one :)

Key shifting

**NOTE: This particular blog post will probably only be interesting to Photo Buffs, but I'll try to make it as simple as possible.

I learned this crazy technique for the first time today, in my Practical Lighting Class! I learned how to create interesting light, using flash during the day! You'd think all you would do is just set up your light and take a shot; of course it's not this simple. It's actually so extremely complicated that I don't think I actually fully understand it, and definitely wouldn't be able to do it on my own. I was in a group, and we all helped each other out. It's very technical, and has a lot of math equations, setting up of high voltage power packs and understanding how to actually make it work! hahaha.. I'm a Photographer, not a mathematician! If I do ever get into this stuff, I will have an assistant do this stuff for me!

"Key shifting" is the technique that I learned today. It is primarily used outdoors, but can just as easily be used inside if one takes into account the color temperature of the interior lighting and compensates accordingly. Mixed source lighting (the sun, and artificial lights) basically entails using studio strobe equipment outdoors as your main source of light while still allowing the ambient light to play a part by illuminating the area surrounding the subject.The strobe will be used to “overpower” the ambient daylight and create a very unique effect. If you over or underexpose your background exposure, while keep the same exposure on your subject, you will create an interesting shot.
If you managed to get through that with any kind of understanding, I am very impressed. I had to read it about 5 times, to sort of wrap my head around it. There are 5 more pages of my assignment to fully explain what the hell it all means.  So, I went outside today, and these are the results I got for "keyshifting" . Please keep in mind it was a purely technical exercise, so I don't think my shots were at all creative. I wish I had more time to practice!

Here is an example of something my teacher has done. You can see how the subject is lit up, and the background is underexposed slightly, creating a dramatic effect!

Here are some of the ones I took for my assignment! (one, two and three stops under exposed backgrounds!) its hard to tell the difference this small, but you can click on them to see them larger!  They aren't anything special, but the fact that I was able to actually do it, is amazing!  YAY ME!!! Take a class, and try something new, you might surprise yourself!

Plantain

I bought a Plantain today for the first time thinking I could eat it.  It looked good enough to eat, but little did I know, that plantains are actually nothing like bananas! Good thing I did a bit of research before eating it!

Did you know, that plantains vary in sweetness depending on its state of ripeness. Unlike the very similar banana, the plantain is usually firmer and lower in sugar content. Also while bananas can be eaten raw, plantains normally require cooking. You shouldn't really eat them raw, as it will be quite starchy and not very good, so I've read. There is one guy, who says to let it go absolutely black, and then eat it raw. ewwwww, no thanks! It looks like this:

I'm the kind of person who won't eat a banana if it even has the slightest bit of black on it. You won't catch me eating a plantain that is completely black! hell no!
I decided to fry it up, and make Tostones. Plantains are a staple in the Latin Caribbean diet. They are prepared many different ways, but tostones are the quickest and easiest. It’s a perfect recipe for beginners. You can serve the tostones immediately while they’re warm as a side dish or as a snack with garlic dip. Go here for a simple recipe!

Let them fry in oil for about 3 minutes



Let them cool down on a napkin and then smash them flat, and re-fry again! Yes, very healthy I know :) But, they were a delicious snack....

Then, make THIS recipe for the 
sauce to dip in! It's extremely garlicy, and oiniony and might make your eyes water but DELISH!



Try a new recipe for the first time, it's good fun!

Click of a Button

Sometimes all it takes is a simple click of a button, and you can do your part in helping someone. Click this link and you can do just that! I just helped the Canadian Paralympic Team for the first time by watching this super short film; click on the link I provided. The film is about the power of believing in yourself! "The film features Team Canada sledge hockey player Todd Nicholson. Like all Paralympic athletes, Todd overcame big challenges to fulfill his dreams. His story proves that no goal is too big — and that, if you believe in yourself, you really can do anything. "

So, if you want to help, just watch the film and share it with a friend. (follow the instructions, and it's very simple) When you do this, Pfizer Canada will donate $5 to the Canadian Paralympic Team. They are a proud Sponsor of the Canadian Paralympic Team
and will donate up to $50,000 ! They have already donated $29,205, so let's help them get to $50,000!

There is also a free e-book you can download (on the same website below) that "follows the story of two young people who overcome challenges to fulfill their dreams. Their stories prove that no dream is too big – and that, if you believe in yourself, you really can do anything."

I needed a bit of a pick-me-up today, and this sure helped! Help someone today, it feels good :)

Laws of Illusion

Today, I bought Sarah Mclachlan's newest album, called The Laws of Illusion, for the first time. She hasn't come out with a new record in 7 years so I was very excited! However, this is only part of the excitement for today; it comes with a pre-sale code to buy concert tickets to Lilith Fair this summer! I've always wanted to go to this music festival, but they haven't done the Tour since 1999. Wow, since I was in highschool, so I'm really looking forward to this. You can check out the full lineup of artists here: lineup but they have such woman artists as Brandie Carlile, Corinne Bailey Rae, Martina McBride, Kelly Clarkson, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, Tegan and Sara, CourtYard Hounds (sisters from Dixie Chicks) Cat Power, and MANY MORE!!! It's going to be an absolute BLAST! I should put more exclamation marks so you know how excited I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been a huge fan of Sarah since I was quite young. I remember the first time I was exposed to her, was finding a copy of my sister Kim's album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.  The song "Ice cream" has and always will be my favourite. It's a cute song about Love, and how its better than ice cream. (perhaps a good wedding song? ) I posted the Live Version for you to listen to!

I've been (not-so) patiently awaiting for a new album to come out, so now I just have to wait even more patiently for it to arrive in my mail box! eeeee, so pumped!

Here is a video of her new single if you haven't heard it yet: It was done for the Olympics.


Buy a new album today, and appreciate what amazing talented artists we have in the world! I LOVE MY BLOG TODAY! :)

One-week: Facebook

I decided today I would not go on Facebook for one week. Since I joined Facebook a few years ago, I've probably been on it every day (even when I went traveling I checked it every few days). This might seem like an easy task for some people, but for me it will be very difficult. I am a full fledged Facebook Addict, and I love it! It's a great place to write down opinions, thoughts or comments. It's a great place to communicate with other people quickly and easily, and send messages if you have a quick thought. I have Facebook on my iPhone as well and it tells me when I have a new message or notification with a quick tap of the screen!

I am going to attempt for the first time to avoid it, for one whole week. Can I do it? I have a few friends that aren't on Facebook so I will get a taste of not being part of the most popular social networking system out there! (sorry Liz and Andrew) I firmly believe you are missing out on something quite unique! I am only doing this week experiment for my Blog, otherwise, I would go on it everyday happily, with no regrets. People who aren't on Facebook these days, often don't get invited to Events because they aren't on people's Friends Lists. Phone/email is not peoples first mode of communication anymore. It's sad, but true. You might as well embrace it! :)  I know my non-Facebook friends will be reading this, and I want you to know that I love you regardless, and want you to know that I do my best to invite you guys to Events, even if you aren't on my Friends List! :) xo

Today, I've been doing other things online to distract myself from Facebook. I've been updating my Website and catching up on old emails but I've found myself, almost without thinking, clicking on the "Facebook" Bookmark I have on my Internet Browser. It's interesting how it's become such a habit in my regular day to day activity and without it, I feel funny. It's only been about 8 hours since I woke up, and already I am missing it.  Wow. 6 more days to go.

Here's some interesting facts about Facebook I found. Yes, I found them on wikipedia. It is my greatest source for information for this Blog.


1. The website currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide.

2. Facebook has met with some controversy. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Syria, China, Vietnam, and Iran. It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using the service

3. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade 'best-of' list, saying, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook?

4. The Facebook iPhone app was launched August 2007 and as of July 2008 over 1.5 million people use it regularly

5. In 2008, Collins English Dictionary declared "Facebook" as their new Word of the Year.

6. It has been reported that more than 3% of all Facebook users are deceased.

Badminton Lesson with Kyle

Today, is the first time I've ever had a "private" badminton lesson. My sister Tara's boyfriend , Kyle is an ex-Canadian national badminton player. He is a badminton coach as well, so agreed to give Matt and I a private lesson at his Racket Club in East Vancouver. We were getting many looks from people but Kyle said, "don't worry , it's just because you are white!" (haha) Most of the people in the facility were of Asian decent, so we stood out a bit. We played near the end of the building, away from everyone which was less intimidating. I felt like I was laughing a bit too much, because most of the people were quite serious.

I have a new appreciation for badminton now, and hope we can go for another lesson as I really enjoyed it! We were only there for about 45 minutes but I noticed we were getting a decent workout; I was sweating pretty good! I imagine I might be a bit sore tomorrow but it was well worth it. Thanks Kyle :)

I googled Kyle, (haha) and found a badminton game he played in, if you want to watch him play! He's the one in the blue :) I can't believe how quickly the birdie and the players move around the court! It's quite amazing. GO KYLE GO!!

Sledge Hockey

Today, my two friends Andrew and Liz, Matt and myself went to watch a Paralympic Sledge Hockey game for the first time! Sledge hockey is a sport that was designed to allow participants who have a physical disability to play the game of ice hockey. Ice sledge hockey was invented in the early 1960s in Stockholm, Sweden at a rehabilitation center. It is currently one of the most popular sports in the Paralympic Games. (wiki)

Two men from Sweden designed the sledge for ice sledge hockey in the 1960s because they wanted to continue to play hockey despite their physical disability. Their design included two skate blades on a metal frame that allowed the puck to pass underneath. They completed the ensemble by including two round poles with bike handles for sticks. Although there are many restrictions to the measurements and weight of the sledges used in the Paralympic Games, little has changed from the original design to the ones that exist today. 

In 1981, Great Britain established their first sledge hockey team, and that was shortly followed by Canada in 1982. It was not until 1990 that the United States developed their first ice sledge hockey team and sledge hockey continued to expand when Estonia and Japan developed their teams in 1993. International ice sledge hockey became an official event in 1994 for the beginning of the Paralympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, with Sweden claiming the first gold medal for ice sledge hockey competition.

We watched the Italy vs. Norway game for the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics!! Since it wasn't Canada, I had to choose a team to cheer for, because it makes it more fun. I chose to support Italy, because I thought they were the underdogs! Sadly, Norway won just before the last period, by one goal. (however, I was glad they didn't go in to overtime, as I was starving for some Brunch!)

Here's a quick video of the game! I definitely recommend you check out a sledge hockey game if you ever get the chance! It was inspiring to see these guys out there, not letting their physical disabilities stopping them from doing something they love! It was very interesting...

Puma Shoes

If you look up the word "Puma" on the Wikipedia site, you'll find all kinds of meanings for the word. Check it out here if you are curious! It can be anything from an Italian dune buggy to a Brazilian sports car, to a German fighting infantry vehicle! This sounds all very exciting, but for this blog, I am going to talk about the Puma athletic shoes. Yes, I know, shoes!!!

I've never been the type to really get excited about shoes. I generally buy shoes for the cheap price, and comfort. I don't care about brand names, and generally stay away from popular brands like this, as they charge more because they are popular.  Guess what? These shoes were 50% off, so naturally I was happy about that. Today is the first time I've purchased a pair of Puma shoes. The price definitely helped me make my decision about buying them!

Even better than this, was Sport Chek had a deal on:  Buy 1 get the Second 50% off. Matt bought a pair of Merrell Shoes, which is his favourite brand. They took the 50% off his shoes, which were normally $130.00. They made a mistake, because they should normally take 50% off the lower priced item, right? When we found this out, we ran far far far away as fast fast fast as we could. Muuuahahhahahah. We used a $100 gift card from my "soon to be" Mother-in-Law and ended up only paying 40$ for both pair of sweet shoes.

YAY!!!

I've done almost 2 1/2 months of firsts!! Wow, only 9 1/2 to go!  If you have any good ideas, please share them with me! I am open to suggestions :)

Robson Skating Rink

* interesting side note* some girl has started a 365 days of firsts idea, and says she got her idea from Julia and Julie as well?! Coincidence? Who knows, but I will check out her ideas, to get some of my own. Ha! * click here

I finally braved the Robson Skating Rink today for the first time, in downtown Vancouver. The revitalization of the ice rink at GE Plaza has brought over 115,000 visitors to Robson Square to enjoy ice skating, concerts, and other special events since it re-opened in late November. Robson Square is the BC’s signature celebration site during the 2010 Winter Games. Live music performances are taking place day and night at this lively centre of activity.

I have been wanting to go check this out for quite some time but, I dare say I probably won't go again. I took 11 kids with me, and two other Staff and it was filled with hundreds of other kids also wanting to skate. It was very busy, to say the least. There was a huge school in line ahead of us, 60 kids to be exact. So, we waited about an hour to "maybe" get in as the Employees kept telling us they may not have enough skates for everyone. We did finally get skates for all the kids, and  got out on the ice but had to leave about 45 minutes later.

They were supposed to open at Noon, and when we got there a Paralympic curling demonstration was going on, so everything had to be post-poned. The employees didn't know this was happening until the day of, so they had quite a few upset parents/groups on their hands. Way to be organized VANOC! The demonstration was obviously a last minute planning idea, and not very well executed or entertaining. I had 11 complaining children on my hands.

Anyways, it wasn't as pleasant experience as I had hoped, but perhaps if we were to go on a non-Olympic day with only a few Adults, it might be a different! I guess I will just have to find out. here's a quick video of the a few of the kids ignoring me, and skating! haha..

Lies Trumps Truth

Unfortunately, because of legal reasons, I decided to delete this post. If you would like to know what it is, I can email it to you privately.

Thanks,

Jenn

HAPPY FIRSTING! --- yes, this is a new word I made up! 

4-slot toaster

Today is the first time Matt and I bought a toaster together. HA! So silly. Am I getting desperate for Blog entries? Perhaps. It's not just a toaster, it's a 4-slot toaster. Woooo. Everyone cheer! We can finally eat our breakfast together. This may not seem exciting to some people, but for us this is a happy thing. If we were to eat at the exact same time, one person would be left with soggy, cold toast. There is nothing worse than soggy, cold toast. Bleah. So, we ventured across the Lions Gate Bridge, to Walmart to get ourselves a new 4-slot toaster.

Once we got there, we realized how funny looking all the toasters were. Some looked like old radios, some looked like robots, some looked like plastic boxes. We chose the one that looked like a robot. Why not, right?

As I came home today, all the lights were off in the house, and our toaster was plugged in. When it's plugged in, there are two blue lights on either side that glow very brightly. It made me laugh as I walked in the door, because it looked like we had a live robot on our counter. If only it could talk, and ask me how my day was! That would be an amazing robot toaster. I will show you photos so you can see what I mean :

The greatest feature of our new toaster, is the bagel button. It actually toasts one side, and leaves one side soft. This is an amazing thing, and we will love our robot toaster every day!